The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-07-19

| by tho war OF the elements, vet tho Mfssil
eippi has done little OF It. It flogs in
low swale-like channel. made for It by nj
lures other agents. It did not make
lCr Itself. It found the channel an,
adopteI 1t for its own, rather than max
one. In this respect 1t Is different iron
tho Potomac, the Hudson, the Susoue
hanna and the Kanawha, which had /
tear away mountains 10 provide themselye
passage way 10 the Sea. TllI7
b THE uprRR MISSISSIPPI, W,
The railroad from La Crosse to thi
place paeses between the bluff and in,
river; and while all distant and extensiy,
view Ia shut of, yet the scenery OF tina
quiet aud rare kind which must alwayt
mako an impression on him who sees It
The Mississippi here is not that Might,
Father OF Waters" which It'll Thousand
miles nearer Its mouth. II Ia clear little
river, just little larger than the Mopon
gahela. It's banks are beaches Of sand
iringed with willows and other trees.
The channel ct this time, the water being
very. low, Is fall OF low bars Of sand, rails.
Ing Just q little above the level Of the
water, and very level and even. They arc
80 white when the sun shines on them
that the LOOK like snow. In some places
there are islands covered with trees.
Ihese are more elevated and overflow
only when flood ia in the rivef, And.
by The way, floods OF much depth are en-.
t!roly unknown on this purt Of the Missis.
eippi learned TINT when was school
boy, and remembered 1t when ssw the
railroad running for miles within a few
feet OF the low wster line. The ransom
why floods are unknown here Is, that the
river above here flows through a great
number Of lakes, which serve NJ reservoirs
to retain and keep back the excess of
water In times of rain, and to let 1t 20 out
gradually when the rains have subsidized,
Its my understanding that the Mississippi
here never rises more than two feet. IS
A DELusivE LANDSCAPE.
The enchantment which distance lends
70 view did not fail to get in ita work on
Wisconsin; for, as ! could ase It far of.
beyond the river, it looked like paradise,
waiting for Adam and Eve and the Tree
OF knowledge and few other pieces OF
furniture, to become perfect. The fraud.
ulent hills among which had been tray.
cling all morning, now doomed up in the
distance in long line Of blue mountains.
looking for all the world like tho Blne
Ridge, and had I not known exactly what
they were like, l would have called them
pretty. The serubby witch hazel and
lronwood and famished pine now put on
the appearance OF splendid groves akirtiug
the base OF the hills and extending up
their regular sidcs even to the summits
And the heatha (.he "blasted heaths," as
Milton would say which in reality are so
poyerty.stricken that sowgrass and bull.
rushes will not grow, were transformed
into plains OF lux1riance and beauty.
rlvaling in vegetation the plantations oil
Pontchartrain or Mobile. But, l knew
that it was all cheat, SO turned away,
and left them TO delude people who had
neyer been in Wisconsin. 9.5stt}l5I
!. BY this time, too, we had reached Lake
Pepln, which is simply widening Of the
Mississippi into a lake. should Judge 1t
to be three or Jour mileu wide and about
ten miles,long. 1t ia very fine in sppear-
snce, and would be capital place for boat
races. did not aee boat on its water.
nor along Ito shore. -
At the town OF Red Wing, natural
wonder may be seen. It is square tower
Of rocks sising from the summit OF the
oluh, perhaps hundred feet. 1t looks as
II It had been hewn by hand, 60 regular is
Its formation. It standa high and impos-
ing above the surrounding country, and
may he seen at distance Of many miles.
$ AT Hastings We recrossed the Miasissip
pl TO the eaatera side, and left the river,
and secended long grade which brought
us to an upland plain. This now began
to ssaume the appearance of wealth and
prosperity. The country WAS highly cul-
tivated, and yielded abundantly. The
trees were Of larger Bizs, and the people
seemed more satisfied and industrious.
This is the heart of Minnesots, and the
great cities Of St. Paul and Minneapolis
are seen in the uiatance. u. NJ,